ABOUT JESSICA WACHTER

Born in Bismarck, ND, Wachter graduated Magna Cum Laude from North Dakota State University with degrees in Art and Interior Design. Wachter currently resides in Bismarck, ND practicing as a full-time artist. Wachter works in her studio, where she paints, draws, screenprints and continues to explore with new mediums and the scale of her work. Her contemporary mixed media work is strongly gestural, often containing personal celebrations, struggles, joys, loves, and losses. Wachter expresses these personal experiences through her use of color, texture, and composition. Working with abstraction, the artist seeks to imbue the work with a tangible essence and mystery while keeping it open enough for the viewers own response.

Wachter serves as a member of the North Dakota State University, Bison Arts Board of Directors and the NDSU Architecture and Landscape Architecture Advisory Board. Previously, she was an assistant/consultant at ecce gallery for four years. She worked with the students at Charism, a neighborhood charity program where she mentored and taught Charism: Faces, an after-school art class for underserved female youth in the Fargo/Moorhead, ND area. She was also awarded an apprenticeship at Experience Institute in Chicago. At Tedx Des Moines, Wachter gave a Tedx talk entitled “Everyone is an Artist.”

Wachter’s work has been shown in numerous solo shows and exhibitions, including solo shows at ecce gallery in Fargo, ND, a solo exhibition at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND, and an exhibition at the International Art Basel Event in Miami, FL. In the summer of 2015, she completed an Artist-in-Residence Program in Medora, ND. Many of her pieces reside in public and private collections throughout the country. She has been featured on the cover of several publications including: Area Woman, Design & Living Magazine, and NDSU Magazine. Recently, Design & Living Magazine named her the 2015 People’s Choice Local Artist.

Experience = Art

PEOPLE

I meet.

PLACES

I go.

EMOTIONS

I feel.

All of the above are expressed in my art. In many ways, my work is not about art, it’s about life. This is why people find meaning in a painting. They can’t always explain it, but they can feel it. For me, that’s life — something we can’t always explain, but we can always feel.

THE SAME IS TRUE FOR ART.

Much of my work is abstract. However, is there really such a thing as abstract art? For what is abstract about feeling? What is abstract about emotion?

People see sorrow, joy, love, and loss in my paintings. They redefine each painting with every viewing. This itself is an act of art.